


A Happy Accident

by kenwave



Series: Reaper76 Week - 2017 [5]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Hospitals, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-20
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-09-15 22:22:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9260393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenwave/pseuds/kenwave
Summary: It’s a bit lonely, so far away from his family, but he admits it’s partially his own fault. He hasn’t put any effort into going out and making friends.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TimelessTragedy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimelessTragedy/gifts).



> This is a gift for [TimelessTragedy](http://archiveofourown.org/users/TimelessTragedy/). Thank you for being a good beta and an amazing friend <3
> 
> This is also for Day 6 of Reaper76 Week. "In another life", alternate universe/timeline.

Big white snowflakes gently swirl to the ground covering the black pavement. People on the street below are bustling to and fro, carrying bags of their last minute purchases, bundled in warm jackets and thick, woolen scarves. Pink tinges their faces as the cold bites at any exposed skin.

Gabriel pulls the blanket he has wrapped around himself tighter. He hates the cold, therefore he hates winter. Despite all of this, he enjoys people watching the most during this time. More often than not he finds himself curled on his armchair by the window looking down at the busy streets below, a steaming mug of coffee in his hands.

It’s a bit lonely, so far away from his family, but he admits it’s partially his own fault. He hasn’t put any effort into going out and making friends. He mostly goes to work, comes back home, and works in his office for a little bit. His coworkers call him a workaholic hardass. He calls it getting the job done in a reasonable amount of time.

As much fun as it is watching the people below, it drives the fact he has no friends here home. He has no one to do those things with. No one to go Christmas shopping for or to spend the holidays with. He should have taken his mother’s offer up on going back to California for the annual family reunion. Unfortunately, he couldn’t travel so soon after moving to the north, and he didn’t feel comfortable accepting his mother’s offer to pay his expenses.

His thoughts are soon interrupted by frantic knocking. Confusion shoots through him. No one would have a reason to visit him, so who was at the door?

Wrapping the thick blanket around himself, he shuffles toward the entrance, socked feet moving smoothly against the hardwood. He peers through the peephole only to be greeted by a garishly patterned hat with a pompom at the top of it.

With a frown marring his features, he opens the door, ready to berate whoever was there only to be greeted by the sight of his neighbour hunched in on himself, left arm cradled to his chest. His face is tinted red, and his eyes look watery. His breathing is jagged and harsh, the man clearly in pain.

“Uh?” It wasn’t the most intelligent thing to come out of Gabriel’s mouth.

“I’m sorry I know we barely know each other but I’m your neighbour and I don’t have a car and I slipped on ice and I think my arm’s broken but I don’t actually know and I don’t think I’d be able to go to the hospital even if I did have a car -” 

“Woah, calm down. Speak slower. What happened?”

The blond man cringes, hugging his arm tighter, teeth clenched in pain. “Slipped on ice. I think my arm is broken.”

“Shit!” Gabriel grabs his key ring, rushing to put on his fluffy parka, shoving his black beanie down over his short cropped hair. “Okay, I can drive you to the hospital if you need it.”

“Please,” he chokes out.

He quickly moves down the hall, slamming his door shut behind him, only to realise the blond wasn’t behind him. Looking back, he notices the man swaying on his feet, eyes staring far off and at nothing.

Dammit, he was going into shock.

Gently, Gabriel touches the man on the shoulder, his glassy eyes soon focusing on him. Blinking owlishly, he leans against Gabriel’s shoulder, the darker man slowly maneuvering the both of them down to the elevator, and to his beaten up car.

He almost slips on a hidden patch of ice, his grip on the man’s shoulder the only thing keeping him steady.

“Don’t want you to break something as well, then were’d we be?” the blond asks, mirth dancing in his blue eyes.

Gabriel snorts. “We’d have to call an ambulance in that case.”

He opens the door for the blond, helping him into the car before moving to the driver’s side and buckling himself in, adjusting the mirrors and turning on the heat.

They drive in silence. Gabriel’s fingers tapping against the steering wheel and the blond’s heavy breathing are the only sounds to break the awkward silence that had descended upon the duo. It’s only when they are stopped at another red light that the man sitting beside him speaks once more.

“My name’s Jack, by the way.”

Gabriel nods. “Gabriel.”

Jack shoots him a smile. “It’s a nice name, suits you.”

It gets a snort out of Gabriel. He glances at the blond man beside him, the dopey smile on his face accompanied by eyes that are glazed over.

Gabriel places his foot harder on the pedal, speeding up as soon as  the light changes back to green. The glazed over eyes a sign of Jack going into shock. He’d much rather have professionals deal with that.

A sigh of relief escapes him as he finally pulls into the parking lot of the hospital. As soon as he parks, he stumbles out of his car, rushing to the passenger side to help Jack out. He takes Jack’s uninjured hand within his own, leading him gently toward the entrance to the ER. He’s shaking within Gabriel’s grasp, and Gabriel knows it isn’t from the cold.

The doors slide open, and they’re faced with a room filled with people in varying stages of health. A man in the corner looks distinctly yellow, while there are several children coughing wetly while mothers dab their children’s foreheads with care.

He ignores them, herding Jack toward the front desk where the blond man sluggishly gives her his name, head lolling onto Gabriel’s shoulder, eyes drooping.

Once she notes down Jack’s name, he leads the two of them to a corner that has a chair free, he pushes Jack’s shoulder slightly, letting him know that he can sit down. After a slow nod from the blond, he sinks into the seat, eyes closing.

Panic briefly flashes through Gabriel, and he nudges Jack in the shoulder. Jack’s nostrils flare open as he sucks in a deep breath, blue eyes opening to stare ahead blankly.

The parts of Jack’s hair not covered by the hat are carefully spiked up, save for several wet strands that hang down into his face, softly brushing against his eyelashes. Gabriel’s eyes move from Jack’s bright blue to his sharp features, gaze lingering on his chapped, pink lips. Altogether, he’s an attractive man, Gabriel acknowledges, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

A loud voice announces Jack’s name, cutting through the soft buzz of conversation from the other patients. The man startles, woken from whatever trance he was in. Gabriel helps him stand and leads him toward a separate desk. Jack answers the questions the secretary throws at him, pulling up his files as she listens.

Once Jack’s done explaining what’s happened, the lady gives him a wristband, asking him to sit down once more. He nods, Gabriel grabs his uninjured arm, once more letting the man lean most of his weight onto him.

Eventually, someone else calls Jack’s name, asking them to follow her to the wing where he will be treated. She gently takes the blond man’s good arm in her’s, leading him down the maze of white hallways and doors, with Gabriel following several paces behind them.

He almost follows Jack and the nurse into the examination room, only to realise when the door is shut in his face that he doesn’t have to follow the man around like a lost puppy. From the time he gets treated by a doctor onwards, he’ll be able to take care of himself and find his way home.

Still, Gabriel wanders back to a waiting area and sits down, not wanting to leave Jack and have him find a way home in the middle of winter with a broken arm and probably a concussion.

He’s woken from his uncomfortable position on the plastic chair, not realising he had fallen asleep until his blinking blearily up at Jack, who’s grinning at him. His arm is now wrapped snugly in a sling, cradled to his chest.

“How long’ve I been out?” Gabriel mutters, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Jack shrugs, grin softening.

“I was in there for a couple hours.” The response is enough to answer Gabriel’s question.

Moving his neck from side to side, he makes a grunt in acknowledgement, rubbing his face. Ice blue eyes watch him intently as Gabriel stretches out stiff limbs, in pain or numb from his uncomfortable position sleeping in a plastic chair.

“Guess it’s time to take you home, huh?” Gabriel’s voice is rough.

A sharp nod answers the question. “I picked up my prescriptions while you were napping.”

Humming in acknowledgement, Gabriel stands from his seat, groaning. The nap wasn’t the most fitful, but it did its job in passing time.

“Looks like I’ll have to drive you home now, then.” Gabriel pauses, looking at Jack with his arm in a sling, small white paper bag filled with prescriptions in his good hand. “Unless…”

A dark blond eyebrow raises, curious. “Unless?” Jack prompts.

“Unless you’d like to go out for dinner with me?” He isn’t expecting those words to come blurting out of his own mouth, the question as much of a shock to him as it is to Jack, whose other blond eyebrow meets with its twin in shock.

“Are you asking me out on a date, Gabriel?” Is the non-answer he receives.

Gabriel mutters, avoiding Jack’s eyes. “I guess, if you want it to be.”

“It’s a date then.” The smile he receives from Jack is breathtaking, it lights up the entire hospital waiting room, it’s then he realises that agreeing to take the blond to the hospital is the best decision he’s made since he moved up north.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my friend [strawbarris](http://archiveofourown.org/users/strawbarris/) for the beta! :D
> 
> You can find me on tumblr [here](http://eachael.tumblr.com/)


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